Wood Splitter accident

[cjnspecial]

My Grandpa got his finger cought between the log and toe plate on my new Iron and Oak fast cycle splitter. We had the splitter horizontal splitting a small, knotty, uneven cut piece that should have just been trashed and he got a finger pinched. The tip of his finger was dangling and looked like it needed to be amputated. The bones were shattered from the tip to right behind the first joint and his whole finger was cut up pretty bad. The doctor said the tendons were intact, put a pin in it and will see if it heals.

Just remember guys...be safe.

 

[wkpoor]

oooouuuch!!! Man that had to hurt. Yep,even a splitter takes only a split sec to hurt ya. BTW does it get cold enough in Louisiana to burn wood? Seems pretty far south to be doing firewood.

 

[Soilarch]

Don't mean to be a Debbie-Downer but it looks like there's a little arthritis is that hand already. Pins and arthritis are always a bad combo.

I wish him luck, and thanks for the reminder...geez...I'm gonna be scared of my maul before too long. So many ways to get hurt to doing so many honest legitimate things.

 

[cjnspecial]

oooouuuch!!! Man that had to hurt. Yep,even a splitter takes only a split sec to hurt ya. BTW does it get cold enough in Louisiana to burn wood? Seems pretty far south to be doing firewood.

We(or at least my family) can't handle the cold like the folks up north can so when the temp drops below 50 degrees, the fireplace gets cranked up. Also, we do a lot of bbqing and roast pigs.

 

[cjnspecial]

Don't mean to be a Debbie-Downer but it looks like there's a little arthritis is that hand already. Pins and arthritis are always a bad combo.

I wish him luck, and thanks for the reminder...geez...I'm gonna be scared of my maul before too long. So many ways to get hurt to doing so many honest legitimate things.

You are correct. He's 76 and has been a carpenter his whole life. He cut the tip of that finger off when he was younger and shot a nail through it about 10 years ago. It's a prettty expensive finger.

 

[wdanforth]

Ouch!

My finger looked similar in the spring. While loading a large round on the splitter wedged my finger between the splitting wedge and the log. Cut right through the nail length wise. It smarted. Lesson learned - do not hold the log by the ends when loading the splitter.

Hope grandpa heels quickly. :bringit:

 

[mga]

none of us like to accept the fact we're getting old, but as we do, our reflexes slow as well.

what was left out was how many were doing the splitting? who was operating what at the time? or, was he doing it alone?

for that reason i prefer to operate everything alone, and i like having a 14 second cycle time....gives ya some room to think.

 

[wdchuck]

Hope he's back to normal in good time.

Same finger on my hand, four years ago, the doc called it a soft tissue injury, I called " hurts like he11 injury". Scared me more than anything, but a slower cycle time gives enough time to push the lever back.
Took two years before the tendons were as elastic as normal, but now I can see them all the time, and the knuckle/finger tip look kinda crooked.

The right and left hands should always know what the other is doing.

 

[046]

double OUCH!!!

makes me think my 16 second cycle times is not so bad....

been thinking of changing out my 5in cylinder to 4in to reduce cycle times down to 8 second range...

have always thought those super-splitters 2 second cycle times are way too fast. very little margin of error...

 

[avalancher]

Man, and I thought I had gotten pinched before in the splitter! Tell grandpa that we are all pulling for him, hope he has a speedy and quick recovery.
I have often thought about switching out my 5 inch ram for a 4 to get some more speed, now I dont know!
My hand hurts just looking at it.

 

[ktm rider]

Nothing worse than screwing up your fingers. You can't really function all that well until they heal and it is just irritating. I wish him a speedy recovery.

I hacked off my right thumb right at the big knuckle three years ago so I feel his pain..... ( the put it back on eventually )

 

[tatra805]

Also from here wishing him quick recover.

Damn that must be painfull dont want to think about it.

About fingers and left-right hand coordination,

I once hit my thumb while holding a masonry chisel and knocking it with a 1.5kg hammer. Pinched my skin between edge and hamer. In reflex i move my thumb and then realized i did not ask my second hand to stop cycle-slamming the hammer.....:censored:

Full blow on complete thumb. 3 months later i had a new nail and it looked back normal. The head of the chisel was cut into the bottom of my thumb. Man, i feel for him looking at the picture

 

[wkpoor]

I do have a super fast cycle time and was thinking about how complacent I might be at times about it. I know after hours of splitting I find myself pulling back the throttle to slow it down as it seems to be getting faster as the day goes on. In reality I'm getting tired and its getting more dangerous.

 

[danrclem]

I hate to see that happen. I hope it heals quickly.

 

[Mister Twister]

It can all go bad in a split second..... Hope he has a speedy recovery. I just had a friend lose a foot and ankle due to a snowmobile track coming off while hold up the back of a sled to clean out he engine. Most snowmobilers have done it before sometime in their life without incident go figure. I will think twice before doing that again thanks for the heads up.

 

[thombat4]

Wishin' Ol'Pa a speedy recovery:jawdrop: !

 

[strongback]

I hope Grampa has an uncomplicated recovery. I know it's a pain when us young'ens get an injury but for an older gentlemen those injuries take a much longer time to heal. Do you mind giving us details on how exactly this happened. Specifically, what process are some of us possibly using that might cause the same injury. Thanks.

 

[Hugenpoet]

Hope your Grandfather has a complete recovery. Most of us try to be as safe as possible, but the problem with runnin' saws, swinging axes and using splitters is that we are all only one careless second away from getting hurt.

 

[clawmute]

Hope he gets it saved. It's no fun, trust me. This is my right hand.

 

[cjnspecial]

Thanks for all the support fellas. Grandpa is doing well. He's just a little stir crazy from sitting around the house though, lol. He's in better shape than most people half his age and is used to staying busy.

what was left out was how many were doing the splitting? who was operating what at the time? or, was he doing it alone?
QUOTE]

Do you mind giving us details on how exactly this happened. Specifically, what process are some of us possibly using that might cause the same injury. Thanks.

I was bringing the wood to the splitter and stacking the wood once split, he was working the controls and holding the wood(splitter was positioned horizontilly). The piece that got him was not cut even on the ends, knotty and had a piece of a limb that needed to be cut off of it. I wanted to trash it and he said we could get a few pieces out of it. He basically had his hand in the wrong place and the wood kicked up just a little bit and pinched his finger. Could we have done anything to prevent it, yes....1. Skip the pieces that aren't easy to split and 2. always keep your hands in a safe place. To help with keeping the hands clear...I ordered an adjustable log cradle.